Complaints against police rise 18.6 percent in 1 year

October 29, 2009

Over the last year, misconduct complaints against Chicago police officers have increased by nearly 19 percent, according to the city agency that investigates allegations from citizens.

Much of the 18.6 percent increase in complaints received by the Independent Police Review Authority has been driven by a steep rise since March of this year, IPRA Chief Administrator Ilana Rosenzweig said.

For most of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, the authority was receiving about 2,300 new complaints against police every three months. But in the second and third quarters of this year the numbers jumped to 2,600 and then 2,800.

The increase has forced the authority to deploy more investigators to fielding new cases, causing a slowdown in the rate at which investigations are completed, Rosenzweig said.

The authority closes about 60 percent of its cases within six months, down from about 65 percent the previous year, she said.

The authority has not yet analyzed its data to explain the increase. It is unclear whether there has been an increase in "perceived misconduct," an increase in the public's willingness to report allegations, or an increase in aggressive policing that would result in more complaints, Rosenzweig said.

The report covers just the second year of performance since the agency was reorganized and renamed from the previous Office of Professional Standards.

Mayor Richard Daley renamed the agency and removed it from direct control of the police department in 2007, in the wake of numerous misconduct scandals.